Penrhyn Road
Every student at Ji8¸£ÀûÍø will visit the Penrhyn Road campus, whether for learning or social activities. Here’s everything you need to know about the campus and its facilities.

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Welcome to Penrhyn Road campus
Close to Kingston town centre, Penrhyn Road campus is a lively central hub which buzzes with student activity, day and night.
Kingston Students' Union is based here, as are the fitness and health centres. This means that students from all our campuses use this site from time to time.
We have invested significantly in the Penrhyn Road campus, which is now home to the landmark Town House building. Nearby, you'll find the 20 million John Galsworthy building as well as the Eadweard Muybridge and main buildings, which house lecture theatres and teaching spaces.
Currently, a major project is underway to revitalise the main building of Ji8¸£ÀûÍø's Penrhyn Road campus, enhancing it for students, staff, and the wider community. The refurbishment spans approximately 4,000 square metres, aiming to create modern social, learning, and collaboration spaces.
In phase one, which was completed in June 2024, we developed a number of student facilities and spaces. These included creating larger student social and event spaces and a new kitchen for students who commute to campus every day. We also launched the first of our Future Skills studios as well as a new dedicated hospitality area for student events.
Phase two of the Penryhn Road campus project is now taking place and is due for completion by the middle of 2005. Our transformed campus will have collaboration spaces and a new careers hub to support students with their career development and employability. Two further Future Skills studios will provide dedicated teaching space for the University's new Future Skills modules.
The project will see accessibility and sustainability improvements. With enhanced outdoor areas achieved in phase one of the project and a redeveloped courtyard in phase two, this will mean more green spaces for students, staff and visitors to enjoy.
Penrhyn Road facilities
The Sopwith Building, named after aviation pioneer Sir Thomas Sopwith, is a state-of-the-art teaching and learning centre primarily serving computing, information systems, and maths students. It features specialised labs, including a games lab equipped with Sony and Microsoft software, gaming consoles, and development tools. The ground floor houses civil engineering labs with reinforced floors and facilities for materials testing, geotechnical and hydraulics research, and advanced surveying equipment, such as satellite GPS systems.
The £20 million John Galsworthy Building is a six-storey teaching and learning complex. It includes lecture theatres, flexible teaching spaces, IT suites and is designed around a landscaped courtyard. It opened in November 2007 and incorporates sustainable features such as rainwater harvesting. The courtyard serves as a social hub for students, especially in good weather. In 2007, the John Galsworthy Building won a RIBA award in the education category.
The Eadweard Muybridge and main buildings at Ji8¸£ÀûÍø's Penrhyn Road campus provide teaching spaces for arts, social sciences, radiography, and sciences. The Eadweard Muybridge Building includes advanced labs for pharmaceutical, forensic, and exercise sciences, featuring a pharmacy practice lab and a 'scene of crime house'. The main building offers film and media labs, a journalism newsroom and state-of-the-art psychology facilities, including specialised and general labs, as well as a PC cluster for experiments.
The Reg Bailey Building serves as the hub for drama students, with two studio theatres. Both have professional lighting and sound, and one features a sprung dance floor. It also includes three rehearsal rooms and a costume/props room. Once a church, it now hosts teaching, rehearsals and productions.
The Surrey Club Building is dedicated to dance students. Offering three rehearsal studios with sprung Harlequin floors, it features a dynamic performance studio with advanced lighting and sound systems, two teaching/rehearsal studios and a body conditioning room.
The canteen at Penrhyn Road, known as the Marketplace, has a wide selection of food and soft drinks. It's a good place for a group discussion over a slice of pizza or a coffee.
The Marketplace is open throughout the day. There's a hot breakfast service, followed by a choice of hot and cold lunches. Either sit down to a cooked meal or grab a quick salad or baguette. Plus healthy snacks, speciality Fairtrade coffee, juices and soft drinks, and freshly baked products are on offer all day. These are available to take away if you're eating on the go.
The Health Centre at Penrhyn Road offers a variety of wellbeing services, including counselling, medical care and complementary therapies. Students in halls or the NHS catchment area can register with the Fairhill Medical Practice for on-campus GP services during term-time. These services cover medical consultations, contraceptive advice and vaccinations. Complementary therapies such as massage, acupuncture, and nutritional therapy are also available.
Additionally, students can access confidential counselling and health advice services, including one-to-one counselling, support for anxiety, stress management workshops and smoking cessation programs. All non-medical services require appointments.
The Fitness Centre at Penrhyn Road is fully equipped with a fitness studio and a 65-station gym, offering flexibility for workouts at any time. The studio provides a variety of classes, including aerobics, dance, and wellbeing options like Bollywood dancing and Pilates. The gym features the latest cardiovascular equipment, high-specification weight machines and free weights. Experienced staff are available for support, and services include fitness evaluations, personal training and sports massage for injury recovery or relaxation.
Ji8¸£ÀûÍø embraces its diverse student body through a team of faith advisers. The Faith and Spirituality Centre opened in July 2015 at Penrhyn Road and is a purpose-built facility offering spaces for prayer, worship, meditation, and reflection. It also includes religious washing rooms and office space. The centre provides a peaceful environment for individuals and groups to pause, reflect or engage in prayer and worship.
Town House
The University's landmark Town House opened in early 2020 and won the prestigious 2021 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling prize as Britain’s best new building. It was the first university building to receive this esteemed accolade. In addition, the building was also awarded the 2022 EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award.
Designed by Grafton Architects through a RIBA competition in 2013, the structure combines thoughtful design with functionality. It provides performance, learning, exhibition and community spaces. It also houses the library, which is open 24 hours a day during term time. Plus, there are flexible learning spaces, a covered courtyard, cafes, dance studios, roof-top gardens and attractive landscaping.
Accessibility information
This campus has level access from Penrhyn Road and lift access to the library and teaching areas. There are accessible parking spaces for Blue Badge holders near to the main building.
You can see detailed accessibility guides for all our sites on the AccessAble website. You can also view our inclusive facilities on our campus map.
Penrhyn Road campus map
Download our campus map (PDF)
Where to find Penrhyn Road campus
Ji8¸£ÀûÍø
Penrhyn Road
Kingston upon Thames
Surrey
KT1 2EE
United Kingdom
51.403960769896, -0.30351430000001
How to get here
Penrhyn Road is central to Kingston town centre and easily accessible by public transport.
Trains run regularly from London Waterloo to Surbiton station (10 trains per hour midweek, journey times 15–32 minutes) and Kingston station (midweek four trains per hour, journey times 28–33 minutes). Both Surbiton and Kingston stations are in Travelcard Zone 6.
From Surbiton station
- leave the railway station via the main exit
- cross the mini-roundabout to Claremont Road
- take the 71, 281, K2 or K3 bus towards Kingston
- get off at the 'Ji8¸£ÀûÍø' stop
- the Penrhyn Road campus is on the other side of the road
From Kingston station
- leave the railway station via the main exit
- cross at the lights in front of you on to Fife Road
- turn left onto Castle Street
- at the end of Castle Street continue ahead on to Eden Street
- cross the mini-roundabout to Brook Street
- cross over at the lights and head right towards the roundabout
- go straight over the roundabout on to Penrhyn Road
- the Penrhyn Road campus is on your left opposite Surrey County Hall
The 71, 281, K2 and K3 buses all run along Penrhyn Road and there are stops directly outside the main entrance. We also run a free intersite bus service for students, staff and visitors. The KU1, KU2 and KU3 buses stop at this campus and link the campus with the Kingston and Surbiton mainline stations, other campuses and halls of residence.
Cycle parking facilities and showers are available at this site.
We strongly recommend visitors use the excellent public transport links instead of driving.
The University has limited on-site parking facilities and prioritises staff during core working hours (Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 4.30pm). Limited visitor parking is available, but must be pre-booked through the person you are visiting, as parking enforcement measures are in operation at all sites. Parking is provided on all sites for blue badge holders and there are docking bays for electric cars.
Members of the public can pay to use the onsite parking outside of core working hours on a first come, first served basis. Physical pay-to-park facilities are installed at Penrhyn Road, together with a pay-by-phone system known as ''. All car park users agree to the University’s car parking terms and conditions.
Alternative parking in Kingston Town Centre can also be found on the website, which shows current availability and costs.
Contact us
Need more information?
Contact us to find the right person to reach out to, or call our switchboard on +44 (0)20 8417 9000.
